D.A.M's NA6

[D.A.M]

The Federal 595RS-R's handled extremely well at Lakeside along with the Winmax pads I'm currently using. Pretty glad i didn't go out there with the ATR's i had on the car previously. MX-5 handled itself well with no over heating etc.

As it was my very first time on a race track the day started off quite scary and intimidating but after lunch time my confidence grew and i started posting better times. Earlier in the day my PB started at 74.06 and by the end of the day i dropped it to 71.00 so Im quite happy there for a first track experience PB.

Also just purchased the Garage Star door bushed to find out what all the hype was about although driving home I didnt get a proper chance to test them out but will keep people updated on how they go.

[D.A.M]

second session at Lakeside, dropped the time down to 69 seconds. Learnt to play around with the tyre pressure and coilver dampening setting more and that helped.

The car is still going well time so save for the Haltech to be installed and dyno tuned

[Trackphotos]

There's about 6 lakeside events across June and July if you want perfect track conditions :p one of which is the next lakeside club day. I will be aiming to run about 4 events over the two months, maximise my opportunity to set a new Pb. Air temp is worth a few tenths when the difference is between 16c and 26c like it was on Monday.

[D.A.M]

Ok so some time has past since any updates, been spending all my time looking for work since graduating from University and just saving whilst working part time. Any who since the last couple of (great) Lakeside sessions I was quite happy with my car's handling set up. The Tein Super Street coilovers kept it all nice and firm (along with the larger anti sway bar, roll bar and underbody braces), the Federal 595 RSR's proved to be very grippy and as shown before, lowering the psi a bit benefited me and last but not least the Winmax W3 brake pads were amazing, giving no brake fade and providing the goods under late braking etc, they're noisy and dirty....but who cares.

So the next decision was power, do I go down the Turbocharged path? Supercharger or Naturally Aspirated? It was a tough call, after speaking to a lot of different, yet all extremely helpful people I have chosen Naturally Aspirated. With that in mind I dont want heaps of power, just a little bit more response and acceleration whilst maintaining reliability and average costs.

And that takes us to now with some little aesthetic modifications in between. Let me know what you think


To start it off here's a B6 PNP Head, which has also been re machined back about 40 thousands of an inch which will increase the compression a little bit, still leaving from to be machined in the future.


The Cam shafts I'll be using are HKS 256 ones which I'm I can still use with my Hydraulic Lifters (seen below).
And in the background are the Toda Adjustable Cam shaft gears I'll be using


Part of my Coolant Re Route kit that will also be done whilst the head is out, should solve the 4th piston getting no coolant issue.

To finish it all off is the ECU i shall be using, I'm told its a bit old etc. But I'm sure it'll be good for time being

[D.A.M]

Oh and the few other little aesthetic mods i mentioned are:

Shiny new Intake Manifold


Red Front and Rear Reflectors, personally didnt enjoy the stock Amber ones, so ran down to my local Ebay shop and picked up some red adhesive..stuff and used Brett's mum's hair dryer to make it take shape, turned out quite well.

Been wanting this (but kept forgetting) for a long time, again really disliked my HVAC panel, old and scratched etc. So ordered this bad boy from Top Miata. Yet to install and upload night pics but yeah, i really dig it.

And last but not least ladies and gents... stickerwatts...big ones!

Had to get a banner to be cool, and from doing a MX5 build on the latest Need For Speed, i came across the Mazda Mulisha banner.....and although they spelt Militia wrong etc...I just liked it thought 'who cares, just do it' and here we are... (thanks to Captain Nate for taking the time to design and print it for me)

[D.A.M]

Here's some shots from the second session at Lakeside



And a photo shoot Brett and I did at at powerplant out near Ipswich

[D.A.M]

The HVAC panel in darkness


and in brightness



Overall the install isnt too tricky, Top Miata don't provide instructions so it can be a fiddly process. The tombstone comes off (always a fun job) and the HVAC shifter...knob..things have tiny screws underneath which are tricky to get off if never done before and they're super tight. the front face of the HVAC panel needs to be removed and the stock sticker thing comes off to allow the new shiny panel to go on nicely, all goes back together then.

The end result is worth it though compared what it used to look like.

[NitroDann]

The issue with ecu's like that is that its really easy to spend more than it would have cost for a modern ecu just in setup and trouble shooting.

Someone I know spent 3k+ trying to sort an E8 out, and then spent 4k getting it uninstalled and a basic adaptronic installed and tuned.

7k for an ecu that should have been 2k tuned.

[D.A.M]

yeah I understand, seeing it was running in a mx5 beforehand hopefully it'll just cost the quoted amount of $1,000 to install and tune. worst case is ill have to fork out more for another updated Haltech or something (worst case scenario)

[NitroDann]

Nah worst case scenario it gets given back not really good enough and youre told that its as good as this old thing can do.

But you dont believe him and you pay for a retune elsewhere where they blame it on some hardware issue, and charge a days labour going over all the vacuum lines, checking all the details, redoing cam, crank and ignition timing and a retune at a cost of 1500+.

Now youre in 2500 on a 200 dollar used ecu, and its still flocked, wont start on hot days, misfires whenever its cold or some other BS.

Now you go and buy a new ecu and tune and the next guy has to undo all the wiring changes from the old ecu, and you are up for another 2000.

See what Im saying?

Know when to cut your losses with this old stuff.

Dann

[D.A.M]

ah yeah you have a point in that regard.

Well its pretty well booked to be done in a week or two, if i get it back and im quite happy id immediately just start saving up etc for a platinum series and go from there. Finances are just a bit tight at the moment.

[StanTheMan]

since you are going programmable ECU.

why did you choose the HKS cams? Cheap deal?
Why not go more aggressive?

the HKS cams should work on the standard ECU......until you have the funds to go & see Dan

[StanTheMan]

for your enjoyment



yes a flapfest on my behalf
tighe 272
mania full intake
Adaptronic
2-1/4 inch exhaust
Mania Dyno

[D.A.M]

Yeah i bought them them for a great deal off Tom Shepard. Plus i dont want to have to use the solid lifters.

[D.A.M]

After heeding NitroDann's opinion, I called some other tuning places locally and talked to Godzilla Motorsports in Wakerly and I'm now choosing to run a Link G4+ Ecu.
Which apparently sits inside the stock ecu housing which seems pretty cool.